The 2013 Nantou earthquake struck central

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

with a

moment magnitude The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...

of 5.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of V (''Moderate'') on March 27 at

local time Local time is the time observed in a specific locality. There is no canonical definition. Originally it was mean solar time, but since the introduction of time zones it is generally the time as determined by the time zone in effect, with daylight s ...

. The

epicenter The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental pe ...

was located in mountainous terrain in Ren'ai Township,

Nantou County Nantou County (; Hokkien POJ: ''Lâm-tâu-koān''; Hakka PFS: ''Nàm-thèu-yen'') is the second largest county of Taiwan by area, located in the central part of the country. It is also the only non-coastal county in Taiwan. Its name derives fro ...

, Taiwan, not far from

Sun Moon Lake Sun Moon Lake (; Thao: ''Zintun'') is a lake in Yuchi Township, Nantou County, Taiwan. It is the largest body of water in Taiwan. The area around the lake is home to the Thao tribe, one of aboriginal tribes of Taiwan. Sun Moon Lake surround ...

Damage

News reports indicate that a 72-year-old woman was killed by being crushed by a collapsing wall and 97 people were injured. Most of the injuries were in

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...

. The earthquake caused two fires and stopped five elevators, trapping people inside. This earthquake could be felt in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

, and

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Cause

Kuo Kai-wen, director of the ROC Central Weather Bureau Seismological Center (地震測報中心) said on 27 March 2013 that a 100-km long blind fault probably exists at Ren-ai Township in

Reactions

Inside Taiwan

ROC President The president of the Republic of China, now often referred to as the president of Taiwan, is the head of state of the Republic of China (ROC), as well as the commander-in-chief of the Republic of China Armed Forces. The position once had aut ...

Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from ...

visited the

Central Emergency Operation Center The Central Emergency Operation Center (EMIC; ) is the emergency operations center of Taiwan which is activated in the event of emergency situation. The center is operated by the National Fire Agency of the Ministry of the Interior. Levels CEOC ...

on 27 March 2013 urging the people to stay alert for any after shock and ready for any emergency situation. ROC Premier

Jiang Yi-huah Jiang Yi-huah (; born 18 November 1960) is a Taiwanese politician and former Premier of the Republic of China (ROC). On 29 November 2014, he tendered his resignation and was succeeded by Mao Chi-kuo on 8 December 2014. Prior to his appointment ...

initiated a cabinet emergency task force to work with the relevant agencies to respond to the earthquake situation. He also urged the relevant government agencies to reassess the safety standard for any local infrastructure buildings.

Outside Taiwan

*— ARATS expressed their concern to the earthquake damage and called for continued communication for any new development after the quake. *— Sumio Tarui, representative of Japan's Interchange Association sent his sympathy, expressing his condolences to the deceased and best wishes to the injured.

References